Utah Complies With Sax-Sex Marriage Licenses

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The last of the Utah counties that were holding out on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples reversed course Thursday and decided to hand out licenses to all eligible applicants.

Officials for the four holdouts - Box Elder, Utah, Piute and San Juan counties - told The Associated Press they made the decision to offer licenses to same-sex couples.

County clerks say they had little choice after an appeals court Tuesday declined to intervene and halt gay marriage. U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled last week that Utah's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, sending gay couples rushing to clerk offices for licenses.

The state plans to take its fight against gay marriage to the U.S. Supreme Court as early as Friday while it prepares an appeal of Shelby's ruling to the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said Ryan Bruckman, a spokesman for the Utah attorney general's office.

Bruckman has said counties could be held in contempt of federal court if they refused to comply.

The holdouts said they decided to obey Shelby's ruling despite reservations and questions about their legal liability. Utah makes it a misdemeanor for county clerks to sanction a same-sex marriage.

San Juan County Clerk Norman Johnson said "what finalized it for me" was Gov. Gary Herbert's order to state agencies to comply with Shelby's decision and change procedures for the delivery of state services. To that end, the Utah Department of Workforce Services is recognizing gay couples for food stamp and welfare benefits.

For Johnson, Herbert's directive was the "final straw," together with a refusal Tuesday by the Denver-based appeals court to stay Shelby's decision pending an appeal from state lawyers.

Johnson said he felt like he was being dragged into granting marriage licenses against the wishes of voters who have kept him in office for 14 years.

"We have no choice," Johnson said Thursday. "The scales have tipped. It's not the way I want to see things go. But the law's the law, and I accept it. It's time."

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Utah Complies With Sax-Sex Marriage Licenses

PROVO, UT - DECEMBER 20: Raylynn Marvel (L) and Patsy Carter leave the offices of the Utah County Clerk and Auditor office after being rejected for a marriage license on July 20, 2013 in Provo, Utah. A Federal Judge on December 20, struck down Utah's ban on same sex marriage saying the law violates the U.S. Constitution. While the ban was lifted and officials were reportedly issuing licenses in Salt Lake City, officials in Provo were denying applicants. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)

SALT LAKE CITY - OCTOBER 3: A car flies the gay pride flag in protest past the Mormon Conference center during the 179th Semi-Annual General Conference of the Mormon church on October 3, 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Several thousand Mormons are gathering for two days to hear guidance from church leaders. Many gay-rights organizations have criticized the church because of its stance on Proposition 8 in California and its opposition to gay marriage. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)